As the Chicago Blackhawks’ fan base continues to argue on social media whether winning games in a useless season is more important than losing games and getting the best chances of getting the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, the actual team did its part by losing 5–0 on the road against the Colorado Avalanche. I think the loss in Colorado was simple: The Avalanche have the talent to make a deep run in defending their Stanley Cup win last season.
- Ian Mitchell continues to show he was overhyped by the former general manager three seasons ago. The AHL power play expert can jump into a play or fire a shot that makes its way through to the net, but when it comes to defending in his own zone, the neutral zone or anything from keeping the puck out of the net, he is clearly below average at the NHL level. Chicago can make things easy for fans and move on and watch him score eight goals one season for a non-playoff team and people can show they gave up on him too early.
- Mikko Rantanen scored his 47th goal of the season when he beat Alex Stalock for the third goal of the game. Rantanen is the type of player management would build statues for if he played for the Montreal Canadiens. If you are looking for something to do in April as a Blackhawks fan, keep an eye on the highly skilled winger from Nousiainen, Finland.
- If a fan is looking for a plus from the whitewashing in Denver, Jarred Tinordi logged 21:43 of ice time and looked real good doing so in his own end. The burly defenseman was also credited with four hits and used his size to keep the pesky Avalanche forwards at bay. There are nights when Tinordi looks like he could be a serviceable hulk of a defenseman and then there are some nights when speed looks like it will always give the 31-year-old troubles. With that being said, that was a positive against Colorado and not a glowing evaluation of needing him in the future.
- As Chicago continues to lose games and fans feel like they are getting slighted, having the worst record at the end of the year gives the team the best chances of receiving the No. 1 overall pick. If a fan was told they had a 99.9% chance of living and a 97.9% chance of living, we all know we would take the 99.9% and run with it since we do not want to take on the extra 2% and lose sleep at night. It is called odds. You want to have the best ones.
Chicago heads to the nation’s capital to take on the Washington Capitals on Thursday for a 7 p.m. CDT puck drop.